Trail Waiver# 6562-WTL-001-1:
Browne Academy5917 Telegraph Road

Article Prepared By Robert Michie
sidewalk and Trails Committee, Lee District
Last Reviewed: 11 March 2007
Revision 2.0

Summary:

Browne Academy is an independent, coeducational, day school in
Alexandria, Virginia, serving 275 students in preschool through 8th grade.
Browne Academy is adding a two-story building to their property. Substantial construction
and other work are proposed in the site plan. The applicant is required to provide an 8-foot wide Type 1 trail
along its property frontage. Applicant’s request: Relocate the trail "closer
to where it will actually be used," or wave the trail requirement
completely for the following reasons:

Sidewalks already exists along the
frontage.

An easement is in place that will allow the
County or the State to add a trail as part of future improvements to
Telegraph Road.

No trail or sidewalk is in place on the
properties to the North of the Browne Academy entrance.

Numerous utility and improvements already
in place are in the way.

Map 1: Map of Subject Area

Discussion:

Telegraph Road has
intermittent sidewalks on its East and West sides from Wilton Road to
Burgundy Road. These sidewalks were constructed with widths varying from four feet
to five feet eight inches. The typical width in the vicinity of the Browne
Academy is four feet ten inches. As elsewhere in Fairfax County,
sidewalks often come to abrupt ends, and are not always continued on the other side of the
street.

The sidewalk segment in
the vicinity of Browne Academy begins at Florence Lane and runs North on
Telegraph Road. The East (Browne Academy) side of the street's sidewalk
switches from concrete construction to asphalt trail within 15 yards, and
remains as an asphalt trail until it terminates at a County bus stop for the
last 20 yards of its run. It has an interesting feature of veering away from
the road and joining the Browne Academy property line in the vicinity of Lot
31a shown on Map1. Finally, Photo 2 shows the trail making a sharp turn and
ending at a concrete hard stand that serves as a bus stop. Across Telegraph
Road on the West side of the street is the intersection with Sharon Chapel
Road.

The trail provides
alternate walking access to a day care center located in the building on Lot
31a, as well as a northbound walking path for residents coming from Florence
Lane. There is a 20 yard segment gap between the Bus Stop and the Browne
Academy driveway.

The setback from the
street is an interesting and useful feature. Sidewalks and trails located a
yard or more from a street do not get buried when streets are snow plowed.
They will also clear themselves in a few days. Sidewalks only a foot or two
from a street will be buried deep, and may take weeks to clear by
themselves.

Four single family homes
connecting to Telegraph Road are North of Browne Academy. There is no
sidewalk frontage, but there is a five-foot wide paved shoulder extending
from the driveway of 5909 Telegraph Road (next to the School's driveway) to
the intersection of Marl Pat Drive where the concrete sidewalk extends all
the way to Huntington Avenue. A thirty foot strip of asphalt is needed in
the area to repair broken asphalt on the shoulder. Once in place,
pedestrians can use the shoulder as a sidewalk until a permanent one is
installed as part of future improvements.

Field Check 16 December 2006

Photo 1: Telegraph Road, East Side, facing South. The
Sidewalk ends at the bus stop flag in the background of the picture.

Photo 2: Northbound Bus Stop at Browne Academy. Note
abrupt termination of the Trail. Also note that the Trail is about
twelve feet away from the street.

Second Look 11 March 2007

Photo 3: Telegraph Road East Side, Facing North. This picture
was taken from the Bus Stop shown in Figure 2. It shows the space
available between the utility poles and the curb.

Photo 4: Telegraph Road East Side facing North from Browne
Academy Entrance. Four private properties - 5909, 5905, 5903,
and 5901 - have no sidewalk. There is a five foot wide paved
shoulder extending to the next intersection.

Photo 5: Browne Academy Entrance. The "numerous improvements"
are attractive plantings and signage in the area, all of which are
portable. Most disturbing is the fire hydrant obscured by ornamental
foliage.

Recommendation:

Deny the Waiver on the following grounds:

There are no significant obstacles to extending the sidewalk along
Brown Academy's property line,.

Allow Browne Academy to maintain the five-foot width of the existing
asphalt path for the sidewalk extension. Allow Browne Academy
flexibility to route the sidewalk around existing utility equipment, and
to assure that the path does not interfere with the fire hydrant.

Redesign the ornamental plantings and signage at the Browne Academy
driveway to accommodate the Trail, and to increase the visibility of the
fire hydrant in the planting area.